Dinner Disaster
by NCISVILLE
Summary: It's their one year anniversary and Tony wants to make it special by making dinner for Pepper.


**Hi guys! I wrote this for PepperPotts2000. You requested one of my "famous stories" XD well.. I certainly hope this lives up to my reputation enjoy! Thanks donnag for the help with the prompt! You guys should check her out. **

**Dinner Disaster**

Tony was frantically running in the kitchen, he'd bitten off more than he could chew this time and Pepper was going to be arriving any moment.

XxxxXXxxxPepperonyxxxXXxxxX

**Earlier That Morning**

Pepper woke up and smiled when she rolled over and saw Tony sprawled halfway off the bed. He always started off holding her and somehow he managed to nearly roll himself off their bed. She chuckled and got out of bed with a stretch and yawn. She walked over to his side and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Happy anniversary."

Tony just kept on sleeping; his only response was a light shove. With a shake of her head she walked into the bathroom and began getting ready for all the work ahead of her. Being CEO was no easy task but she loved it. It had been Tony's gesture of trust and she cherished it. An hour later she was ready to walk out the door. Before she left she roused Tony to a sleepy coherent state and said her goodbye their usual way.

"I'll see you later. I love you."

"Love you too. Work hard." He mumbled eyes still closed but returning her kiss. She wondered how long it would take him this time to remember that today was their anniversary.

XxxxXXxxxPepperonyxxxXXxxxX

When Tony finally woke up around noon he yawned and tried rolling over but fell off the bed. He jumped up suddenly awake and looked around trying to figure out what was going on.

"JARVIS, what's on today's agenda?" He asked scratching the goatee as he stretched.

"You have nothing scheduled for today Sir. You asked me to clear all events so you could do something special this year for your wife."

"What? No no no no NO NO! JARVIS what's today's date?"

"October 2. Your anniversary." Tony cringed.

He'd forgotten again. How did he keep forgetting? It wasn't like it changed yearly. It was always October second. "How much time do I have until Pepper comes back?"

"Six hours."

"Right. Six hours. I got this. She said she wants dinner so I'll make her dinner." Tony said mentally planning out what he was going to do.

"Is that really such a good idea Sir?" JARVIS asked with hesitation and concern. "The last time you attempted cooking under pressure the fire department had to get involved and you had to buy a new stove."

"Did I ask for your advice JARVIS?" Tony asked annoyed with an indignant huff.

"Well Sir, you-"

"Mute." Tony retaliated walking into the shower before JARVIS could mock him. This year he would succeed and make their anniversary special.

XxxxXXxxxPepperonyxxxXXxxxX

Tony was rushing home from his countless number of steps trying to allow for two hours of time to cook. He'd gotten all the cliché things. A box of the finest chocolates, a bouquet of flowers to be sent to her office, and a pair of black pearl earrings. He'd bought mushrooms and champagne for his dinner. He'd decided to make a Chicken Alfredo for dinner and add in broccoli and fresh mushroom caps. He had garlic bread and frozen peas to be put on the side. He was feeling confident in himself. He could definitely cook this meal to perfection and impress her. He'd never been more wrong.

First time around he'd burnt the water. On his second attempt he got it right but he'd forgotten to add oil and stir and the noodles had gotten stuck together. Frustrated he moved to the chicken and no matter how much he tried he couldn't seem to get it to cook through. After an hour of trial and error he managed to cook the chicken and get it cut up into cubes. He tried browning the mushroom but burnt them to a crisp. Hoping he could mask the mushrooms he dumped in extra alfredo sauce and dumped in a full bag of frozen broccoli in with the sauce creation. He put a cover on it and left it on medium. He tried the noodles again and this time dumped a full 12oz bottle of olive oil in with the noodles just to be extra sure the noodles wouldn't stick. Proud of himself he moved on to the garlic bread and put it on a pan and threw it in the oven. He set it to 475 thinking that that was a good temperature and set a timer for ten minutes. He looked to the clock. 5:40pm. He had just enough time to quickly throw on a suit and get ready.

Happy with the work he'd done he skipped upstairs and hummed as he got ready. He had lost track of time and it wasn't until the smoke alarm began going off that he remembered. Sprinting downstairs Tony looked horrified. Black smoke was coming from the oven, water was bubbling over and going everywhere and alfredo sauce was spewing all over the kitchen lathering it in a creamy white mess. He jumped in trying to get the situation under control but made it worse. He quickly shut off the stove but water managed to shoot up and hit his eye. Tony screamed in pain and staggered back with a hand over his burnt eye. Alfredo sauce was still spewing and decorating his suit. Stumbling forward with one eye he tried to grab a hold of the pot but accidentally smacked it knocking it over. It's contents began pouring out all over the burner and smoke rose. Giving up on it he moved to try and fix the garlic bread. He opened up the door and smoke billowed out and covered his face in steam. Blindly trying to swat away the smoke with one hand as one covered his eye he would up smacking his hand against the metal rung and burned it. Tony let out another cry of pain and re-coiled from the burn. Un-ceremoniously he tripped backward over his feet and fell flat on his but. Feeling defeated and in pain he lay on his back.

"JARVIS call the fire department." He groaned and clutched his hand and his eye.

"Tony, I'm…oh my God! Tony?!" She cried coming in to a smoky house. She rushed into the kitchen and saw Tony laying on the kitchen groaning and whimpering. Pepper immediately called 9-1-1 and got an ambulance and the fire department heading to their house. "Oh my God. Tony, what did you do?" She asked pulling him out of the smoke filled room. Tony just whimpered in reply.

In a matter of minutes the ambulance and fire department arrived. Tony was being wheeled off to the hospital and Pepper sat worried as the EMT's spoke words she didn't understand. All she could gather was that he'd burned himself bad. It wasn't until Tony went to the back and was separated from Pepper that she got any answers as to what had actually happened. Even then she'd had to wait an hour.

"Mrs. Stark?"

"Yes!" Pepper responded jumping up from her chair. She'd been stewing in worry and finally she was going to get answers.

"Your husband suffered from a number of varying burns. He has a second degree burns on his face and a first-degree burn on his eye. He won't be able to see for a couple days but his vision will return to normal soon enough. He has a second degree burn on the back of his hand that we wrapped up in gauze."

"Oh my God." Pepper replied shocked crossing her arms and holding herself. "Can I see him?" She asked hopeful.

"Yes. He can go home tonight as well if he wishes." Pepper breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't going to tell Tony that however. He needed to take it easy and rest. When she entered the room she saw her pitiful looking husband. He had a gauze eye patch and it was clear that ointment had been put on his face but it didn't stop the blistering and peeling skin.

"Oh Tony. What did you do?" She asked with a pained look.

"I tried making dinner for you." He said sadly. "I'm sorry I ruined our anniversary. Maybe they can let me out. So I can at least take you out to dinner?" Pepper smiled softly at him and took his hand that was unscathed.

She placed a kiss on it and looked at him lovingly. "You're not going anywhere and you didn't ruin our anniversary. But what made you think trying to cook such a complex meal was a good idea? Did you not remember the last time you tried cooking lasagna?" Tony chuckled and squeezed her hand.

"I just…I wanted to make you feel special." He said disappointed.

"You make me feel special everyday Tony. You didn't need to try and impress me. I feel special whenever you compliment me or help with emails. When are you going to learn that you don't need to do something complex and fancy to show that you love me?" She spoke looking at him with such love and adoration that it made his heart swell.

"I did get you something though. It's in my destroyed suit pocket." He said nodding to the heap of clothes on the floor beside him. Pepper dug through the pocket and fished out the small red box. She looked to Tony with a smile and flipped it open. She gasped.

"Are these...?"

"Black pearl earrings? Yeah. I thought it would look good with the sparkly black dress I got you for your birthday." He commented with a smile. At least he did something right.

"Tony they're beautiful. Thank you." She smiled walking over and learning forward to gingerly kiss him.

"Happy Anniversary Pepper."

"Happy anniversary Tony." She replied kissing him again. "I love you so much but next time just stick with ordering in or going out, okay?" She pleaded.

He chuckled. "Got it. I love you too Pep. Forever and Always." It was definitely one of their most memorable anniversaries but it was no less special in Pepper's eyes. Tony had finally learned his lesson though. Next time he'd make Rhodey cook.

**The End**

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